THE DEVIL BAT
Lugosi Enterprises DVD
2002

Available at
www.lugosi.com

BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT
Lugosi Enterprises DVD
2002

Available at
www.lugosi.com

There’s been a lot of curiosity on classic horror internet forums about the Bela Lugosi Presents discs coming out from Lugosi Enterprises, the company headed by Lugosi’s son, Bela Lugosi, Jr. When it was revealed that the first titles to be released were going to be THE DEVIL BAT and BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT – the question became how Lugosi Enterprises would manage to sell oft-seen and readily available public domain films. The consensus was that the prints would have to be top notch and the supplements filled with gems rarely, if ever, seen.  Would the DVDs meet the challenge and satisfy the expectations of hopeful fans?  Or would they confirm the opinions of the dubious that there'd be little interest in yet another presentation of THE DEVIL BAT and BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT? Commentaries for both discs were finished at the end of 2001, and fans expected the discs released in Spring 2002, but when nothing came, they waited week after week for news of their release, eager to hear of a sighting in stores or on an order form on the web. Well, the DVDs have finally arrived. 

What strikes one immediately is the high-class design and presentation.  The matching covers  by Kerry Gammill employ original poster artwork, pseudo gold-leaf lettering, a classic Dracula hypnotizing pose, and a flavorful use of fonts. Michael Price, author of FORGOTTEN HORRORS, provides entertaining back copy notes that seem, however, abridged from a lengthier text. The amray case holds an insert of a mini-poster different than the poster pictured on the front, and should the series be successful, it will be a delight to collect these and display them in small frames or as part of a larger piece.

The menu design by Mindsight is top-notch (particularly on THE DEVIL BAT!) and each film is divided into ten chapters. A youthful-looking Bela Lugosi Jr. introduces the general series, promising digitally remastered and enhanced presentations, sourced from the best available film elements, of many films never before available on the home video and DVD market. 

Film historian Ted Newsom and Bela Lugosi Jr. share commentary.  (Someone else – ? – joins in for a few seconds, off-mike, on the BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT commentary.)  Newsom takes care of the details, such as the history of the poverty row company involved and background on the film’s supporting players, while Bela Jr. fills in the personal aspects of his father’s life that only he can be privy to.  Commentaries from both gentlemen are fine, but I believe a greater penetration into the world of Lugosi can still be achieved (possibly in a future commentary?), in which an energetic digging for details would flesh out a picture of the man and his surroundings even more. It may seem silly to some, but even when something trivial as cooking is mentioned, I’d like to know just what kind of cooking, and if five minutes is spent on discussing Bela’s favorite menus or home-cooking dishes that’s time well spent to a Lugosiphile.

Some of the more interesting commentary relates to Bela passion for politics, and having an Eastern European background myself, with flavorful memories of opinionated family members from “the old country,” I can well imagine what kind of heated and interesting discussions took place at the dinner hour in Casa Lugosi.  One of the things I believe is missed most in the biographies of actors is an examination of the world they inhabited outside of their profession, because that world cannot but help to find its way into the core of an actor’s personal life.  Bela Lugosi certainly must have been affected in spirit and philosophy by such events as the Depression of the 1930s, the Second World War and the Soviet takeover of Hungary.  As proven by Lugosi Jr.'s commentary, the growing conflict in Europe in the first years of the Second World War was on the actor's mind and in his heart, though, as Lugosi Jr. assures us, Bela was a very patriotic American with a love of this country and its values. 

Lugosi, Jr. shoots down some of the contemporary myths that have arisen from Tim Burton’s Ed Wood movie. While most Lugosi fans will be familiar with the misleading tall tales of the Burton film, it is worthwhile once again that the record is set straight by one of the few people alive who would really know the difference between the truth and the fiction. Other commentary of interest deals with Bela Jr. himself and his early life in the Lugosi family. There is a natural admission that the divorce of his father and mother was painful for a then-sixteen year old, and it is a moment in the commentary, though passed over quickly, that grounds it in the vicissitudes and sorrows of real life. 

Supplemental stills and lobbies from the collection of Ron Borst are spotlessly clean and invite a luxuriant, gloating perusal. Each disc contains a radio show that had Lugosi as guest actor – Suspense’s “The Doctor Prescribed Death” for THE DEVIL BAT disc, and Crime Does Not Pay’s “Gasoline Cocktail” placed in BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT.  Two trailers from other Lugosi films grace each disc.

THE DEVIL BAT utilizes a very good print, seemingly the same one used by the older Roan DVD release. Even though there are marks on the print, it is a surprise to find a film element of a poverty row production in such good shape. One proviso, shared by the Roan disc as well: at mid portion the film seems to change temporarily to a 16mm source, apparently replacing a damaged or missing 35mm reel.  Despite this, you probably will never see THE DEVIL BAT looking so good. 

The print of BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT, however, is problematic.  The claim is that the disc has been remastered from a 35mm element, but the source looks grainy, with the whites bleachy at times. In its favor the lettering on signs and text is sharper than on other sources I’ve seen and, because of that, thankfully readable.  I don’t have the Roan disc available to compare, but it’s possible that even the Roan disc contains these same qualities.  Surprisingly, the recent Alpha Video DVD presentation of this title, while having its own pictorial faults (namely an overabundance of enshrouding black in darker scenes), has a greater monochromatic depth overall and a pleasing mellowness in its picture quality.  Both sources have their fill of marks, scratches and lines, and it’s a pity that a better film element has not been found of one of Lugosi’s best PR shockers.  Perhaps it never will. 

The format for future Lugosi Presents DVDs seems set: commentaries and/or interviews with persons who either knew Lugosi or are acknowledged Lugosi experts, a solid sampling of first-class stills, poster artwork and lobbies, trailers, and home movies in the possession of the Lugosi clan. Certainly there are a good many films in Bela Lugosi's curriculum vitae that await DVD resurrection, and success is wished to this venture which can, with care and dedication, bring prized, handsome and supplement-enticing editions to the Lugosi collector and the classic horror film fan.

-- Mirek

THE DEATH KISS
Alpha Video DVD
2002

Just when you thought that Alpha Video couldn’t surprise one anymore, they do, and come out with the first DVD of THE DEATH KISS. The print is certainly watchable, but admittedly rather a mess – splices and jump cuts intrude on a periodic basis. Yet for those unfamiliar with the movie, it is a good way to view it, and certainly affordable at a price of less than $10 in stores and from online retailers like Barnes and Noble. 

Never one of Lugosi’s more important titles, this 1932 mystery film is chiefly of interest for its cast, members of Universal's Dracula troupe – Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan.  Lugosi is mostly out of the action, and when he is in the frame he spends a fair amount of time as a spectator. Do not despair, however. The King of Horror does have some choice words to say and gets to employ the sinister looks he was already becoming famous for. But this is David Manner's film, after all, as his character is the amateur sleuth who must discover the murderer of an actor before his love interest, an actress played by the desirable Adrienne Ames, is placed under arrest.

While a bit on the trivial side, I found the film engaging and all the performances a pleasure to watch. A significant plus: The print used by Alpha Video contains the hand-colored scenes that must have been quite a surprise to moviegoers of the day.

THE DEATH KISS is another DVD to add to your collection of cheap, but enticing, Alpha Video Lugosi titles. 

-- Mirek

THE PHANTOM SHIP
Image Entertainment DVD
2002

Available at
Amazon.com
for $13.49

The second movie made by Hammer films, THE PHANTOM SHIP (British title: THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE), offered Lugosi a chance to showcase his acting range, which though anchored in the melodramatic, remains unique and compelling. Lugosi plays the part of Anton Lorenzen, a man devastated by a tragic past in which he was shanghaied, tormented and mutilated. Having the opportunity, years later, to board a ship whose first mate is his old tormentor, he assumes an alias and waits for revenge. 

The new DVD from Image is a joy to behold. Previously this film had suffered terrible video releases, with low-grade audio and picture quality. Image's release is sourced from 35mm internegative and the audio likewise has been mastered from a 35mm element. Though it still has its share of defects, the print element satisfactorily gives one a viewing experience that must be close to what the audience had upon the film's initial release. Image offers the U.S. release print, which is shy about eighteen minutes in what is now considered lost footage: a court room sequence that bookended the film and which was considered extraneous for American viewers. 

PHANTOM SHIP establishes an immediate authentic mood. Fine details in the sets and the natural staging and attire of background extras give the production a rich look that easily filters through the imagination. You can smell the fish and the salt in the air and taste the bitter ale and worm-attacked biscuits. Characters with faces chiseled with hardship and the coarse elements of the sea have a three-dimensional fullness, their souls made tough by the brutality of the ocean and their fellow sailors. The words "chink" and "nigger" are casually used early on, and later in the film an attempted rape is nearly consummated. The intentions of the rapist, played by future Inspector Lestrade, Dennis Hoey, are made very plain at the embarkation of the Mary Celeste, creating a perverse sexual tension that is surprising for a film from the 1930s. No wonder the Daily Film Renter remarked "pretty grim fare" in its contemporaneous review of the movie.

An important release for Lugosiphiles, Image's PHANTOM SHIP, produced by silent film archivist and DVD producer David Shepard, belongs at the forefront of recent releases from early cinema.